We write this latest update whilst sitting at a beach-side hotel restaurant in Lombok, a far cry from the craziness of Mumbai where we left you last.
Our last day in Mumbai, we were able to go into the Mumbai slums, where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed, and had a private tour of the inner workings of slum life. One things we were suprised to learn was that there are a lot of white collar workers in the slums, who earn more than enough to live in their own properties but choose slum life as this is what they are used to and where they were brought up.
Being invited into various "houses" we were able to see how proud the people are who live here and despite all likelihood, the houses are absolutely spotless and you can see they are cleaned every day. All children are sent to school in their adorable school uniforms.
We were also invited into the various factories, where they make wholesale clothing - dresses, shirts, jeans - suitcases and even went to a leather tannery. Next time you use Johnson & Johnson, please be aware that the factory it was made in was probably in the Mumbai slums! On the whole, the main shock was that the slums just aren't as bad as they are played up to be in the movie. However, Sally did manage to tread on a dead rat on the street and is now so hardened to Indian life that she didn't even let out a scream!
In fact, one man was very unhappy to see us there in the slums and told us to get out... the slum dwellers were not at all happy with the movie and thought it painted slum life in a very bad light. I hope he would have realised we weren't there to make any judgement or laugh at them, but in fact just gain an understanding of the way life was for them.
What I have yet to mention is the day earlier, we had been out walking in Mumbai and inadvertently walked into another slum. Without a guide or a clue where we were going, it was a little more scary than the following day, especially when we accidently walked through the public toilet area... which was just an area of pavement by the coast!
All the while, of course, we had intermittent monsoons.
Anyway, we now had to say goodbye to India after five and a half weeks. We both totally agreed with our thoughts on India and the time we have had there. It was definitely time to leave, but we both walked away feeling that we had definitely gained something by going to India, both culturally and by learning how to be travellers... if you can travel in India you can travel pretty much anywhere!
So, thoughts on India are as follows...
1) if there is not a cow eating rubbish, you are not in India
2) if there is no room to fit someone in the car, squeeze three more in and then hang people out the window
3) there is absolutely nothing wrong with wearing the same clothes 5 days in a row
4) dirty feet are an absolute given
5) you can try all you like to eat the right food and still end up with Delhi Belly from the showers
6) Indians on the whole are a hugely spiritual people, who manage to integrate their religeon into daily lives with ease
7) of the 33million Hindi gods, our favourite is Brama (the creator) followed closely by Ganesha (elephant) mostly because this is the one we can remember
8) there is no point walking down the pavement when a perfectly good road will do - and get you away from the hundreds of street hawkers
9) the true value of anything is a quarter of the price the sellers quote
10) four people can easily fit onto one motorbike, with room to spare for a baby
The next leg of our trip was a short flight to Singapore, quite the opposite of India in almost every respect. It was also our first stay in a hostel and dorm room... at the Inn-Crowd. And ironically, this was in Little India, the Indian part of Singapore. Singaporeans are mostly of either Indian, Chinese, Malay or ex-pat descent, and each culture has their own part of the city.
12 people in each mixed dorm room and 7 dorms led, finally, to a lot of other travellers for us to meet. It was very useful to hear other travellers stories about where they have been and what they have got up to - especially as everyone we met was on a reverse trip to us and were going where we have been and have been where we are going! It is also good to know that we are not the first, and certainly won't be the last to get ripped off or fall for any number of scams that locals pull on travellers!
The hostel puts on a free scooter tour of Singapore a couple of times a week so we signed up for our only full day so we could see the city properly. From 10.30am to 4.30pm we were out and about sampling the delights of Singapore, most notably a stop off a Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling cocktail each where they were created. Needless to say, our control of the scooter was significantly worse than before we had them to drink. Our tour showed us everything there was to see in a single day which was fortunate as our next flight took us out of there the very next day.
That evening, we went to Clarke Quay, the liveliest part of Singapore, where they have beautiful restaurants and interesting bars with all sorts of themes. The oddest we came across was a bar called Clinic, where the people who visit the bar sit in wheelchairs, have their drinks from a drip bag and take shots from a syringe. I am tempted to bring this idea back to London...
The evening brought an electronic kite display which was practice for the youth olympic opening later this summer.
The difficult thing to get used to after leaving India was the cleanliness... where it was perfectly acceptable, in fact expected, to throw your rubish on the floor in India (there are no bins, only piles of rubbish everywhere), in Singapore there is a huge fine for any level of littering!
So... we left Singapore with a new and hugely important purchase... the notepad that Kate bought that we are using with wifi to update this blog now! No more stuffy internet cafe's, beachside only from now on!
Pur next flight brought us to Bali, but first a two hour queue to get through immigration and buy our visas. Fortunately, we were meeting Felipe back in Bali as he was able to secure us a fabulous deal in a hotel right on the beach with a beautiful pool and stunning gardens, and all for very cheap too. Otherwise a 2am stroll around the Indonesian equivalent to Magaluf would have been on the cards.
We chose to stay in Kuta, which is well known as the party place of Bali and it was full of Australian surfers who were having their winter break from school or university, along with a good mix of travellers too. We found a lot of people who were only supposed to be passing through and ended up staying a couple of months or more. Kuta is great for surfing, partying and spending too much money so we chose only to spend 5 days there, as what we have really been in need of is a relaxing time with beautiful scenery and a chance to get over the craziness of India.
So that is what brought us here to Lombok... an hours fast boat to the next island and then a short taxi ride to the villiage of Sengiggi, an absolutely beautful stretch of beach, where we are staying in a lovely beach hut and will soon be taking advantage of a few days sunshine and hopefully, finally, getting a tan! While this is being written, Kate is having a massage and Sally is getting a henna... all in all we are very happy girls!
We are making sure to take our malaria medication, and trying hard as we can to avoid the mosquitos as there has been a huge outbreak of dengue fever amongst travellers and there is no way to prevent it!
Tomorrow we are renting scooters for 24 hours so we will be able to see Lombok in all it's beauty... two hours until sunset now...
Until next time xxx
Monday, 19 July 2010
Monday, 12 July 2010
Delhi, Kerala, Goa, Mumbai and some rediculous journeys in between...
Hi all...
We last left you whilst we were in Varanasi waiting for our train back to Delhi. Since then, we have covered the entire length of India.
Delhi, being our fourth visit there was pretty unremarkable, except Sally was proposed to by the crazy hotel owner and has since been plagued by constant text messages. Don't worry mum and dad, the answer was (and remains) a firm no.
The next morning was an early one as we had a train to catch to Kerala, which is the Southern most state in India. We were slightly concerned by the fact it was our longest trip yet at about 30 hours, so we stocked up on crisps and cookies, said goodbye to Felipe and prepared for 2 days and a night on the train. However, turning up at the station, we discovered that actually this was a 42 hour train, so basically a mini break with 6 Indian men.
Kate made a new friend called Vivien, a 60 year old man with an alcohol problem (3 bottles of whiskey on the first day that we are aware of) who has now also been calling and texting daily. She got into trouble on the train as they were in the linen closet drinking whiskey and was accused of taking drugs... a quick bribe of 1000 rupees got her out of any trouble! She was warned by locals to get back to her bed fast ... they followed and then offered hashish and cigarettes to smoke out of the doors as the train was moving (answer was no).
We thought the best way to get through 42 hours of pretty much hell was to sleep as many hours as possible throughout the day. We both had the bottom bunks and both woke in the mornings to find our mini-break men sitting on our beds while we were sleeping... great!
So... we finally arrived in Kerala - we were originally planning on spending 5 days there, not realising we were going to lose a whole extra day on the train so had to re-think our plans and not travel too far from the station. The train took us to Ernakulum, Cochin - we arrived at the hugely convenient time of 5am. Backpacks went on and in the pouring rain, we started the walk to the MG Road, which was supposed to be the busiest place and the best for backpackers.
Maybe we will get used to the rain, maybe we will get used to carrying the backpacks... but its really difficult to find a cheap deal on a hotel in a good location when its pouring with rain at 5am and you are really desparate to find somewhere to sleep! So we settled on a decent but probably overpriced hotel and slept the day away.
Ernakulum has nothing to offer other than a few shops and a road called Jew Street, but we were able to make a plan for the next few days. Cochin is made up of a number of islands where you can hop on a boat between the islands for 2.5 rupees (67 to the pound). We found the ferry port and some much cheaper accomodation right by the port, so moved our luggage to the storage in the hotel and jumped on the ferry to Fort Cochin... and this is where we were so proud of ourselves... for two days, we lived out of small day packs with a 20 lt capacity. Seeing that we are now capable of living in the same outfits for 5 days straight, this actually wasn't too difficult!
Fort Cochin in a small island that you can easily walk around in a day. There is a lot to see in Fort Cochin, including a Dutch Palace which was actually built in the 1500s by the Portuguese to apologise for raiding a temple. It is the Dutch palace because the Dutch carried out the renovations. It was in this palace that we learned all the history about the Rajas, and the Maharajas.
Fort Cochin also has Chinese fishing nets and Sally jumped on board and helped with the fishing... not a huge catch unfortunately but it is a bad time of year for the fish apparently. In Fort Cochin, it is usual to buy your fish fresh from the fishermen and take them to the restaurants to have them cooked.
The other major thing we saw was the Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in the entire British Commonwealth, which was built in the 1500s when there used to be a huge Jewish community in Kerala. Now, there are only 7 Jews in Fort Cochin as they leave to move to Israel. We also broke into the Jewish cemetery (on the aptly named Jew Cemetery Road) to pay our respects. Unfortunately a lot of the graves had been destroyed, but the keepers of the synagogue have salvaged them and they were all kept in the grounds.
Our accommodation in Fort Cochin was... budget. Costing us about 2 pounds each a night we thought we had found somewhere pretty decent. Until, we were given a curfew of 11.30pm and water started leaking through the roof on top of Kate who was sick whilst the monsoon was pouring. A girl has to be pretty ill to just ignore the water, not move the bed, put a bucket underneath to catch the water or arrange for a new room. Fortunately Nurse Sally was on hand to fix everything!
Our nights were spent in a restaurant watching the football and drinking "special tea" (beer in a teapot as they don't have a license).
One great thing about Fort Cochin is the tuk tuk drivers will offer you a free ride anywhere as long as you agree to go into a shop and look around for 5 minutes, they get their commission and we get a free journey.
We then discovered that there was a 24 hour strike across the whole of India on the day that we were supposed to be leaving, so no taxis or tuk tuks would be running. So, our backpacks were now stored in a hotel an hours walk from the train station... we couldn't really stay there so had to negotiate getting our bags back the day before the strike (by paying them off with 100 rupees) and finding a hotel close to the station. Once again, it was pouring with rain, but we managed a much better deal after what felt like hours of hotels telling us they were fully booked as obviously all other travellers had the same idea!
So, the following day, we left the earily quiet Ernakulum and jumped on the train to Margao in the South of Goa. Having, as usual, done very little research on the best place to go in Goa, we decided we were just going to go to the nearest beach seeing as it was out of season, no travellers would be there anyway, and we would have a few days to recuperate from long train journeys that without exception make us both ill.
On the train, we met Jon and Giles, who without doubt turned our trip to Goa around... they told us they were going to Baga which is supposed to be the only place where tourists would be going and also the best night life. Of course this would cost us money... but you only go to Goa once right? (we really need to stop justifying spending money with that!)
So, we went to Baga, arriving at the slightly less annoying time of 6am and the four of us took a walk around the hotels (guess what, it was raining again) and tried to find a good deal. And when else, other than when you are travelling, do you meet someone one day and then agree to share a hotel room with them for a week following that?
Most of Goa disappeared in a haze of alcohol, sleeping and the Star Movies channel as believe it or not, the rain just kept on coming. We met loads of other holiday makers (still no long term travellers yet) from all over the world as every night we were in the same bars watching the football and then dancing the night away.
It is common for everyone in Goa to rent a bike or moped - I think we were the only group of people who didn't rent any - although a lift was always available from new found friends or friendly locals. One day, we did decide to rent mopeds... Sally didn't bother, Kate drove hers fine, Giles couldn't get the hang of it and Jon smashed his into the car of the person who rented him the bike! A 3000 rupee payoff got him off the hook, and we all left on foot after the manager took the other bikes back too. One day of sunshine burnt us terribly as everyone played football (Sally watching) and we swam in the sea. Which is apparently very dangerous, particularly at the spot of beach we were on... the current was REALLY strong and every time we got too far out the lifeguards would have to drive out into the sea to drag us back. But we are all strong swimmers and everyone was fine, if not a little pink when we returned.
Other bribes in Goa included Kate paying off an angry Indian when Jon jumped on someones bike whilst drunk and driving it into another car (1000 rupees) - Sally got together a search party of 12 people to look for them after it took half an hour for them to get 2 minutes down the road, and Sally paying off a policeman as she didn't have a license while driving someones bike (500 rupees). But we lived to tell the tale and have learned... stay away from bikes and linen closets and all will be fine!
Our last night was spent at a private pool party at our American friends hotel, before we had to be up and out early to catch our train to Mumbai.
Which is where we write this from today. Sally has been really ill since being in Goa... it is either the ice they put in the drinks or just too many drinks all together... feeling better now and hence able to write this!
Promise to write again sooner, as I am sure a lot of details have been forgotten in this update...
Expect to hear from us in Bali!
Much love
Sally and Katie xxx
We last left you whilst we were in Varanasi waiting for our train back to Delhi. Since then, we have covered the entire length of India.
Delhi, being our fourth visit there was pretty unremarkable, except Sally was proposed to by the crazy hotel owner and has since been plagued by constant text messages. Don't worry mum and dad, the answer was (and remains) a firm no.
The next morning was an early one as we had a train to catch to Kerala, which is the Southern most state in India. We were slightly concerned by the fact it was our longest trip yet at about 30 hours, so we stocked up on crisps and cookies, said goodbye to Felipe and prepared for 2 days and a night on the train. However, turning up at the station, we discovered that actually this was a 42 hour train, so basically a mini break with 6 Indian men.
Kate made a new friend called Vivien, a 60 year old man with an alcohol problem (3 bottles of whiskey on the first day that we are aware of) who has now also been calling and texting daily. She got into trouble on the train as they were in the linen closet drinking whiskey and was accused of taking drugs... a quick bribe of 1000 rupees got her out of any trouble! She was warned by locals to get back to her bed fast ... they followed and then offered hashish and cigarettes to smoke out of the doors as the train was moving (answer was no).
We thought the best way to get through 42 hours of pretty much hell was to sleep as many hours as possible throughout the day. We both had the bottom bunks and both woke in the mornings to find our mini-break men sitting on our beds while we were sleeping... great!
So... we finally arrived in Kerala - we were originally planning on spending 5 days there, not realising we were going to lose a whole extra day on the train so had to re-think our plans and not travel too far from the station. The train took us to Ernakulum, Cochin - we arrived at the hugely convenient time of 5am. Backpacks went on and in the pouring rain, we started the walk to the MG Road, which was supposed to be the busiest place and the best for backpackers.
Maybe we will get used to the rain, maybe we will get used to carrying the backpacks... but its really difficult to find a cheap deal on a hotel in a good location when its pouring with rain at 5am and you are really desparate to find somewhere to sleep! So we settled on a decent but probably overpriced hotel and slept the day away.
Ernakulum has nothing to offer other than a few shops and a road called Jew Street, but we were able to make a plan for the next few days. Cochin is made up of a number of islands where you can hop on a boat between the islands for 2.5 rupees (67 to the pound). We found the ferry port and some much cheaper accomodation right by the port, so moved our luggage to the storage in the hotel and jumped on the ferry to Fort Cochin... and this is where we were so proud of ourselves... for two days, we lived out of small day packs with a 20 lt capacity. Seeing that we are now capable of living in the same outfits for 5 days straight, this actually wasn't too difficult!
Fort Cochin in a small island that you can easily walk around in a day. There is a lot to see in Fort Cochin, including a Dutch Palace which was actually built in the 1500s by the Portuguese to apologise for raiding a temple. It is the Dutch palace because the Dutch carried out the renovations. It was in this palace that we learned all the history about the Rajas, and the Maharajas.
Fort Cochin also has Chinese fishing nets and Sally jumped on board and helped with the fishing... not a huge catch unfortunately but it is a bad time of year for the fish apparently. In Fort Cochin, it is usual to buy your fish fresh from the fishermen and take them to the restaurants to have them cooked.
The other major thing we saw was the Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in the entire British Commonwealth, which was built in the 1500s when there used to be a huge Jewish community in Kerala. Now, there are only 7 Jews in Fort Cochin as they leave to move to Israel. We also broke into the Jewish cemetery (on the aptly named Jew Cemetery Road) to pay our respects. Unfortunately a lot of the graves had been destroyed, but the keepers of the synagogue have salvaged them and they were all kept in the grounds.
Our accommodation in Fort Cochin was... budget. Costing us about 2 pounds each a night we thought we had found somewhere pretty decent. Until, we were given a curfew of 11.30pm and water started leaking through the roof on top of Kate who was sick whilst the monsoon was pouring. A girl has to be pretty ill to just ignore the water, not move the bed, put a bucket underneath to catch the water or arrange for a new room. Fortunately Nurse Sally was on hand to fix everything!
Our nights were spent in a restaurant watching the football and drinking "special tea" (beer in a teapot as they don't have a license).
One great thing about Fort Cochin is the tuk tuk drivers will offer you a free ride anywhere as long as you agree to go into a shop and look around for 5 minutes, they get their commission and we get a free journey.
We then discovered that there was a 24 hour strike across the whole of India on the day that we were supposed to be leaving, so no taxis or tuk tuks would be running. So, our backpacks were now stored in a hotel an hours walk from the train station... we couldn't really stay there so had to negotiate getting our bags back the day before the strike (by paying them off with 100 rupees) and finding a hotel close to the station. Once again, it was pouring with rain, but we managed a much better deal after what felt like hours of hotels telling us they were fully booked as obviously all other travellers had the same idea!
So, the following day, we left the earily quiet Ernakulum and jumped on the train to Margao in the South of Goa. Having, as usual, done very little research on the best place to go in Goa, we decided we were just going to go to the nearest beach seeing as it was out of season, no travellers would be there anyway, and we would have a few days to recuperate from long train journeys that without exception make us both ill.
On the train, we met Jon and Giles, who without doubt turned our trip to Goa around... they told us they were going to Baga which is supposed to be the only place where tourists would be going and also the best night life. Of course this would cost us money... but you only go to Goa once right? (we really need to stop justifying spending money with that!)
So, we went to Baga, arriving at the slightly less annoying time of 6am and the four of us took a walk around the hotels (guess what, it was raining again) and tried to find a good deal. And when else, other than when you are travelling, do you meet someone one day and then agree to share a hotel room with them for a week following that?
Most of Goa disappeared in a haze of alcohol, sleeping and the Star Movies channel as believe it or not, the rain just kept on coming. We met loads of other holiday makers (still no long term travellers yet) from all over the world as every night we were in the same bars watching the football and then dancing the night away.
It is common for everyone in Goa to rent a bike or moped - I think we were the only group of people who didn't rent any - although a lift was always available from new found friends or friendly locals. One day, we did decide to rent mopeds... Sally didn't bother, Kate drove hers fine, Giles couldn't get the hang of it and Jon smashed his into the car of the person who rented him the bike! A 3000 rupee payoff got him off the hook, and we all left on foot after the manager took the other bikes back too. One day of sunshine burnt us terribly as everyone played football (Sally watching) and we swam in the sea. Which is apparently very dangerous, particularly at the spot of beach we were on... the current was REALLY strong and every time we got too far out the lifeguards would have to drive out into the sea to drag us back. But we are all strong swimmers and everyone was fine, if not a little pink when we returned.
Other bribes in Goa included Kate paying off an angry Indian when Jon jumped on someones bike whilst drunk and driving it into another car (1000 rupees) - Sally got together a search party of 12 people to look for them after it took half an hour for them to get 2 minutes down the road, and Sally paying off a policeman as she didn't have a license while driving someones bike (500 rupees). But we lived to tell the tale and have learned... stay away from bikes and linen closets and all will be fine!
Our last night was spent at a private pool party at our American friends hotel, before we had to be up and out early to catch our train to Mumbai.
Which is where we write this from today. Sally has been really ill since being in Goa... it is either the ice they put in the drinks or just too many drinks all together... feeling better now and hence able to write this!
Promise to write again sooner, as I am sure a lot of details have been forgotten in this update...
Expect to hear from us in Bali!
Much love
Sally and Katie xxx
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